Thursday, September 30, 2010

As Catholic Dads our main focus is on the physical and spiritual care of our families, especially our children. We struggle to do our best but sometimes we wonder how well we're actually doing. How well do our kids know their faith? Are they absorbing what we are teaching them in the home or Catholic school or Church? What is their understanding of things and how does it change as they mature? Of all the ways of determining our efficacy, sometimes it is simplest to just ask the children.

Kids say the funniest things sometimes. Catholic Dads Online sat down with three of the Nodling girls, Blynken, Nod-girl, and Nib, to see what they had to say on matters of the Faith. It is in that spirit that we present to you: Interview With The Nodlings.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

The Q Continuum alerts us to an article in USA Today that says that Americans like God, they just don't know anything about Him.

In fact, they are pretty ignorant when it comes to doctrine. Let's face it, Catholics have more doctrine per square inch than most religions. (Hey, when it's True, there's a lot to say about it.) To prove them wrong, Q links to the World’s Toughest Catholic Quizfirst posted by This Rock author Karl Keating.

I took it and -- without cheating -- I got 16 out of 20 correct. It would have been 17, but I didn't select what I knew was the right answer on one or two of 'em (too much second guessing). Guess I'll have to study a little harder before taking over adult education at the parish!

Now you try!

Don't fret if your percentage is lower than you expected it to be.

As you see, the Catholic faith is a very exact thing. Yes, you can be saved even if you know it imperfectly, but your value as an apologist will increase as you learn how much you still have to learn.

Here are the official rankings:

Fewer than four answers correct: Downright embarrassing. Even random guessing should have gotten you a score of four out of twenty. Crumple up your answer sheet and make a novena.

Four to seven answers correct: Frankly, pretty poor. You have a long way to go before you're prepared to explain your faith in public.

Eight to ten answers correct: On the low side, but you will be spared public penance.

Eleven to thirteen answers correct: About average or a little better--nothing to be ashamed about, but nothing to write home about either.

Fourteen to sixteen answers correct: You're nearly ready to take over the adult education classes in your parish--you need to do just a little more homework.

Seventeen to nineteen answers correct: Wonderful! You have every reason to be satisfied with yourself.

Fellow Catholic Dads contributor, Tim Burke at Salvation Is An Adventure, is giving away a free DVD of Niki and Babs: Do and Doubts!

Tim reviewed this Christian episodic for girl teens back in July, and it was something that piqued my interest since I have 3 girls of my own. They haven't quite reached their teens just yet, but a father can't be too prepared -- and you have to snatch up all the good resources while they are available.

I have one sister and growing up it was like a different soap opera every week. In talking to my wife, it is building good relationships that is toughest for girls. Yes, they are better at it than boys, but they can also be much nastier and cliquish. So good models are key.

Tim writes:

The series of five episodes centers on Nikki, a quiet, reserved teenager who is forced to spend the summer with her loud, boisterous cousin, Babs. The interaction between the two is hilarious. Each episode involves an adventure that Nikki and Babs encounter over the course of their summer together. Each episode also take on a specific Christian theme:

Judgment Day: Nikki learns that judging others only leads to hurt and a feeling of guilt.

Idle Worship: Both Nikki and Babs learn that it is better to worship Christ than man.

A Difficult Thing: Babs damages the trust Nikki has in her and must make a sacrifice in order to regain that trust.

Y-N-V: Nikki is envious of Babs' accomplishments as they battle for the same job.

Vanity Share: Babs learns a lesson in vanity as she and Nikki decide whether to enter a local beauty pageant or participate in their church talent show.

Sounds good to me! Tim says it's a great resource that he uses with his youth groups, and who am I to disbelieve him? If you're feeling generous, Tim, send a copy my way!

If you'd like a shot at a free copy, pop on over to Salvation Is An Adventure and leave him a comment. Better yet, blog or tweet on it and get two chances to win.

Monday, September 27, 2010

I got that panicked call from one of the Nodlings during the football game. (Why always during the game?) Daddy, daddy, the kitchen sink is flooding!

I went upstairs and sure enough we're wading through a couple of gallons of water on the floor. Warm water. Hm. Not the dishwasher. We rescued most of the under the sink supplies and mopped out the cabinet. I determined it wasn't one of those spraying geyser leaks which is a good thing. It only leaks when you turn on the water. Must be the hose or fitting.

I turned off the water and then took stuff apart. Due to the angle, this involved crawling into the cabinet and trying to swing a wrench with my elbow jammed against my nose while reaching around the garbage disposal. Not fun. I'm going to have bruises in strange places. Now I have sore ribs and a neck cramp.

I figured if it was a leaking hose, I could duct tape it until I could get a replacement. The hardware store was closed, but I did find (clear - not silver!) duct tape at the drug store. I ended up not being able to separate the last hose fitting so as to be able to do my triage. Fail!

I put everything back together again and ran some water through the lines -- and now it doesn't leak. This bothers me more than if I hadn't fixed it. I didn't conclusively find the source of the leak; I didn't "do" anything particular to fix it. I took it apart, yanked on a few parts, and put it back together again. I have a sinking feeling this isn't the last we'll see of this problem.

In the meantime, I put a drip pan under the sink and the paper towels and supplies somewhere else. Now I know why plumbers get paid a fortune: they are huge guys with strong hands and bad overalls doing a dirty job. How would a huge guy even fit under the sink?!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

I'm a smart guy; I'm good at what I do -- really good. Which makes it very hard when I'm dumb. There are just certain areas that I'm Not Good at. Mentally, you go to reach in the place you're accustomed to -- and there's nothing there. A big blank spot. It's not that you don't know the answer, it's more like you have no idea how to find out.

To participate, create a post highlighting posts that would be of interest to Catholics and link to the host blog at http://rannthisthat.blogspot.com. Go to the host blog and leave a comment giving a link to your post.

Friday, September 24, 2010

If as Sartre said, 'Hell is other people', then Purgatory most assuredly is being cooped up in a 5x7 doctor's office with 3 elementary kids, 2 toddlers, and 1 really stinky diaper for an hour and a half.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

I'm a smart guy; I'm good at what I do -- really good. Which makes it very hard when I'm dumb. There are just certain areas that I'm Not Good at. Mentally, you go to reach in the place you're accustomed to -- and there's nothing there. A big blank spot. It's not that you don't know the answer, it's more like you have no idea how to find out.

I spent the evening trying to help my daughter Blynken do her math. Blynken is smart and creative and funny, but she doesn't do math well. It doesn't compute for her - literally. It's too abstract. So we try different approaches for her to do problem solving, but none of them really stick. The only thing for which I've had success with her is Schoolhouse Rock (hooray for music!).

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Today, I submitted a travel claim to the company for $666. My boss gave a little shudder and said half-jokingly, "Can't you add 1 more or less mile to the total to avoid that number?". I just smiled and clicked "submit". (Everybody knows ALL money is evil, right? I just need some of it to pay my bills.)

Friday the 13th doesn't scare me, I'm not triskaidekaphobic in the least. In fact, I got married on the 13th, and one of my family was born on a 13th -- if anything, it has been a lucky day!

Numbers are just, well, numbers. Sure, some have symbolic meanings and such, and I get Biblical numerology, but they don't bother me unduly. My favorite number is ridiculously large so games of "pick a number" usually take a while.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

My wife tried to dump me twice when we were dating: once at the 1 year anniversary and again at the 2 year anniversary. It seems I wasn’t getting around to asking her to marry me soon enough. Now as it turns out, she did get asked on our 2 year anniversary, but it was the priest who saved us.Continue reading at Catholic Dads Online >>>

To participate, create a post highlighting posts that would be of interest to Catholics and link to the host blog at http://rannthisthat.blogspot.com. Go to the host blog and leave a comment giving a link to your post.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

They say that youth is wasted on the young. The older generation always has its wisdom that it wishes it could impart to the young.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if I had kept a diary or a journal when I was younger. It would be interesting to see now what I would have said to myself then. I was pretty idealistic, and yet I had a number of things wrong. I remember when the subject of numbers of children came up ...

Thursday, September 16, 2010

My wife tried to dump me twice when we were dating: once at the 1 year anniversary and again at the 2 year anniversary. It seems I wasn’t getting around to asking her to marry me soon enough. Now as it turns out, she did get asked on our 2 year anniversary, but it was the priest who saved us.

They say if you want to meet a nice girl, go to Church. After a couple of years post-graduate I’d been living and working in the city and not meeting anyone new and certainly not faithful Catholic girls. So I joined some young adults at the Church who were doing the Renew faith sharing program and small groups. There I met a girl who was involved in a community theater show which was in desperate need of more guys. A few batted eyelashes later, I was in the show too.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Here's a quick preview of soon-to-be-beers courtesy of Northern Brewer. I also got a carboy handle and a Brew Hauler so I don't drop and smash my 5- and 6-gallon glass carboys. Yay, beer!

Imperial Mild with Specialty Grains.

We know, we know ... there's nothing imperial about a beer named "mild" and an OG of 1.062 is hardly extreme. But this beer has historical precedent, so act like you know: in the days when "mild" meant "not sour" to English pubgoers, dark ales like this could run much stronger than the lightly-hopped, low-alcohol iterations we know today. This overfed reddish-brown session beer crams twice as much mildness into every pint: dark fruit notes with a roasty chocolate edge, wholegrain biscuit and toast flavors, a pleasantly intense estery, fruity nose with a suggestion of earthy hop, and an invitingly round finish. A lawnmower beer for people with really big lawns, or a great mugful for the shoulder seasons.

Patersbier:Stan Hieronymus (author of Brew Like a Monk) and Kristen England (BJCP Continuing Education Director) bring you this very special kit. "Brouwerij'ed" on the left side of the Belgian town Malle solely for consumption by the reverent Cistercian brothers. This ale is not served or sold to the public, making it one of the rarest beers in the world. Made only from pilsner malt, hops, and yeast, the complexity that results from these simple ingredients is staggering: perfumey floral hops, ripe pear fruit, sour apple, spicy cloves, candied citrus and a slight biscuit character on the drying finish ... a monks' session beer.

After a six months sabbatical Christopher West is back; West is a well known and lately controversial teacher of Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body (TOB).

West came under scrutiny after editors at ABC News sensationalized some of his quotes out of context (they would never intentionally misunderstand Catholics would they?) by saying Hugh Hefner and JPII rescued sexuality from the prudishness of Victorian morality.

But West came under even heavier fire from the "friendlies" at the JPII Institute and various theologians and philosophers, including Alice Von Hildebrand and David Schindler. Well known chastity speaker Dawn Eden criticized West in her master's thesis saying "West risks sexualizing Christianity rather than Christianizing sexuality".

Now, I am no expert at all in this field and have only a surface understanding of TOB, West, Hildebrand, and Eden's thesis. I suspect without being able to prove that Eden may have a point. I also know people who have attended West's seminars and they tell me they are very solid. (It is important to remember that it is possible to critique someone's work and not throw the baby out with the bathwater.)

West himself said in a statement that he had gained many insights from his critics and appreciated the need for greater balance in his life. Although he does not agree with all of his critics, he has handled the entire controversy with great humility and grace. This is a tremendous witness to all of us, especially after the public nature of the criticism he endured.

Now, since I've already admitted to offering an uninformed opinion (i.e., not from original sources), is there anybody out there who has any experience with this?

It wasn't pretty, but it did work: the Redskins beat Dallas on Sunday night (and really we don't care about much else). A win is a win, and doubly sweet since it is a Conference game (i.e., it really counts).

One thing I'm still having trouble adjusting to is seeing Donovan McNabb in a Redskins jersey. I'll take it, though -- any day rather than Jason Campbell!

How to have a disabled child: just love them like any other kid. That's it. You could stop reading here if you wanted to since that's my entire thesis. Or you could listen to my story.

I have a son with Down Syndrome who is now five years old. Here on the 'Net we call him Nub. He's a short, sawed-off little guy, so the name kinda fits. The Free Dictionary defines nub as:

1. A protuberance or knob.

2. A small lump.

3. The essence; the core: the nub of a story.

We define him as our toddler on steroids. He is celebrating his third anniversary of his second birthday. A lovably cute boy, he's got the strength and reach of a five year old with the understanding of a two year old.

Still with me? Ok, look, I didn't ask to have a son with Down Syndrome. In fact, if I was honest with myself, I probably asked God not to have any kids with "special needs". I only knew two or three people with DS growing up and I was a little freaked out by them. I mean, they are retarded; they just sit there like some kind of lump - a nub. They're all so awkward and uncomfortable and inconvenient. Sure, we're all God children, and we'll be kind to them and everything, but couldn't they just be somewhere else, with someone else?

What kind of insensitive jerk are you?Well, just like anyone, only more so. [...]

To participate, create a post highlighting posts that would be of interest to Catholics and link to the host blog at http://rannthisthat.blogspot.com. Go to the host blog and leave a comment giving a link to your post.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

How to have a disabled child: just love them like any other kid. That's it. You could stop reading here if you wanted to since that's my entire thesis. Or you could listen to my story.

I have a son with Down Syndrome who is now five years old. Here on the 'Net we call him Nub. He's a short, sawed-off little guy, so the name kinda fits. The Free Dictionary defines nub as:

1. A protuberance or knob.

2. A small lump.

3. The essence; the core: the nub of a story.

We define him as our toddler on steroids. He is celebrating his third anniversary of his second birthday. A lovably cute boy, he's got the strength and reach of a five year old with the understanding of a two year old.

Still with me? Ok, look, I didn't ask to have a son with Down Syndrome. In fact, if I was honest with myself, I probably asked God not to have any kids with "special needs". I only knew two or three people with DS growing up and I was a little freaked out by them. I mean, they are retarded; they just sit there like some kind of lump - a nub. They're all so awkward and uncomfortable and inconvenient. Sure, we're all God children, and we'll be kind to them and everything, but couldn't they just be somewhere else, with someone else?

What kind of insensitive jerk are you?Well, just like anyone, only more so. [...]

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Just one of those things on any given Sunday. We're driving from church and we see this local plant nursery truck in front of us with the service mark (sm): Same day delivery or sooner! What? Is there a psychic landscaping service that delivers your plants before you order them?

.:] -=- [:.

My three-year old, Nib, came to me and said, "Daddy, I want to play the horsies." Can a gambling problem start so young? Maybe she knows something ... should I bet on The Wife Knows Everything?

.:] -=- [:.

Celebrated family birthdays this weekend, but between preparations and hosting, I am now too pooped to party. I've taken more naps this weekend than a room full of preschoolers. Must be gettin' old!

No, this is not an ode to the Old Dominion; rather, another soul has departed to see God face to face -- may He be merciful to you.

Aunt Ginny has died.

It's a funny thing to be celebrating the beginning of a new life with a child on the one hand and the end of another life on the other hand. Our lives are full of dichotomies and contrasts that way.Continue reading at Catholic Dads Online >>>

To participate, create a post highlighting posts that would be of interest to Catholics and link to the host blog at http://rannthisthat.blogspot.com. Go to the host blog and leave a comment giving a link to your post.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Good Gravy! I just came from Wynken's Back To School night for middle school.

They made us switch classes just like the kids do, but every 15 minutes. It was quite the whirlwind. After 8 classes I can see that the fact the middle schoolers only get 10 minutes of "recess" is not going to be a problem. The sixth graders are going to get quite the workout going up and down the steps to all their classes.

I've seen the books these kids have and it's enough to give them scoliosis. They've got eight 300-page textbooks and a half dozen workbooks, plus binders and folders for papers. These kids look like something out of (pre-)Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles -- small kids with giant backpacks that weigh a 99 pounds.

The books are so ridiculously heavy that they even go so far as to give each middle schooler two complete sets of books so one can stay home and one can stay at school to reduce the burden. Good grief! Why not just give them all a Kindle and be done with it? Or an iPad? (Ooooh, iPad!)

All I can say, is that I'm glad I'm not in middle-, high- or any other kind of school anymore. Who wants to be young anyway? Not anybody with a lick of sense.

No, this is not an ode to the Old Dominion; rather, another soul has departed to see God face to face -- may He be merciful to you.

Aunt Ginny has died.

It's a funny thing to be celebrating the beginning of a new life with a child on the one hand and the end of another life on the other hand. Our lives are full of dichotomies and contrasts that way.

My dwelling, like a shepherd's tent,
is struck down and borne away from me;
You have folded up my life, like a weaver
who severs the last thread. (Is 38:12)

Aunt Ginny was someone who loved life and the God who gave it to her. If ever someone could make lemonade out of life's lemons it was she. Aunt Ginny was born into crushing poverty in the hollows of West Virginia (they called it "the Holler"). The community she lived in was so isolated that a visiting linguist declared it was one of the last pockets in America where the accent of the Queen's English could still be heard. "I was hiding behind the boosh (bush)."

It's just barely September and still hot, hot, hot outside. My cherry trees are madly dropping their leaves like it is some kind of race. Now most deciduous trees drop their leaves to prepare for the oncoming winter and preserve the main trunk. Since it is still so stinkin' hot outside, what in the world are these trees preparing for? How do they know winter is coming? If it stayed warm year round, would they bother to shed their leaves?

I know we can quickly point to genetics, acclimation, biological clocks, or some such. But really, how does a tree know? If I were to design a tree, how would I go about that? How can I get this much reflection from a three-second glance at my trees as I back out of the driveway?

Sometimes I just sit back and marvel at the wonder of it all. God saw the world and all the things He had made and it was very good. I'm going to have to agree.